Runners knee. What is it? How to go about fixing it!

Considered by many as a great recreational activity with the added health benefits, running is a common activity that is performed by many different individuals from all walks of life. However it is not as simple as putting one foot in front of the other at a quickened pace.

Different mechanics of your body need to work in conjunction, if not it can lead to injury, a prime example being your knee.

Runners knee (patellar femoral pain syndrome) is a pain that is commonly found around one’s kneecap. Often it is attributed to an over use injury and as mentioned previously, the inability for the body to perform a specific task at a specific moment. The common culprit is an inability for the quadriceps muscle (rectus femoris) to activate when it need to. This then leads to overuse of the tendon that attaches to the top of the kneecap, resulting in pain. Other signs that you have runners knee is pain going up or down stairs and the inability to weight bare on the affected side.

So what can you do about it? Rest is not best nor is avoiding the issue as you are only avoiding the movement that is not working correctly in the first place. A strengthening program focused on improving quadriceps strength would be recommended. Getting an accurate diagnosis but most importantly, working out where in your biomechanics is not performing optimally would be high on the priority list.

At Kinetic Healthcare our team of sports chiropractors constantly see individuals with runners knee and affiliated knee pain issues. With many misconceptions out there on knee pain, both in the assessment and treatment of it, we wanted to bring out a product that was informative, accurate and to the point.

‘The 5 Steps to annihilating knee pain’ e-book is a step by guide on how to help you with your road to recovery from knee pain.